Finally an arcade book that is not about retro games only! Written by Adam Pratt (Arcade Heroes website manager and owner of the Game Grid arcade in West Valley City, Utah), The Arcade Experience - A Look Into Modern Arcade Games and Why They Still Matter focuses on the present and the future of the arcade industry. The book is divided into six chapters, each dealing with a particular topic. The first one looks back at history; to understand the modern arcade world, it is important to understand the origins... The second chapter is devoted to existing arcades and their way of functioning. The third chapter reviews the games released in the West the last 5 years. The fourth and fifth chapters respectively talks about the social aspect of arcades as meeting places and the unique technology used in arcade games. Finally, Adam gives us his perspective on the future of the industry. The book features 204 pages and is illustrated with colour photos. The foreword is signed by Kevin Williams (The Stinger Report) who actively contributes to Arcade Heroes website. This book offers an insightful analysis of today's western arcade world and is a very good way to catch-up for all those who did not follow the news in recent years. The Arcade Experience can be ordered as paperback book or as digital Kindle edition.

Phantom Breaker Another Code is out on Sega's ALL.Net P-ras MULTI (RingEdge 2) today. This arcade version developed by Delta Factory is an adaptation of 5pb's Phantom Breaker released on Xbox 360 in Japan in June 2011. The game has been completely rebalanced for the occasion. Phantom Breaker Another Code uses 4 buttons: SP (burst counter), L (weak attack), M (medium attack), H (strong attack). Fighters have two fight styles: quick style (speed and combos) and hard style (defense).

It's a long time since Konami released a generic arcade cabinet, the last one being the Windy II released in 1997! The hiatus is over for Konami with the announcement of the Phonami, a modern design cabinet sporting a 60" plasma touch screen reminding a giant smartphone (hence the Phonami name). In its press release, Konami says the goal is to gather arcade and mobile phone players in a completely new gaming experience. The first game that will be adapted to the new cabinet is Dragon Collection that was released three days ago. Konami also annouces that its BEMANI hits will also see a Phonami release. The first one being Dance Evolution Arcade which fits the cabinet particularly well thanks to the featured video camera and motion sensors. Fans already hope for the return of ParaParaParadise! In the same press release, fighting games are announced (which is not in Konami's habits) thanks to the versus setup (as seen on the picture). This new interface should revitalize the fighting game genre which is losing speed in Japan. For now, only a prototype photo is available but Konami promises more info about the Phonami in the near future. This is an April fool!

A new school year starts tomorrow for Konami's Quiz Magic Academy IX players. Quiz Magic Academy IX Sorcerer's Door Season 2 brings many new features compared with the first episode released last year. A new "rival" feature automatically registers opponents that the player faces often as rivals. If the player wins against them, he gets more magic stones. A national tournament mode for up to 16 players is available. If four players participate in the national tournament final, special events occur (such as character anniversary memorial). There are also changes in character illustrations, screen selections have been redesigned and new music were added.

Stunfest 2013 is less than one month away! It's an unmissable event for arcade fans. If only 2 of the various tournaments are arcade tourneys (Breakers Revenge and Super Street Fighter II X - Grand Master Challenge), visitors will enjoy themselves with the dozen free play arcade machines offered by 3 Hit Combo and Tony Games. There will be a shoot'em up zone by James Game Center. In this context, 3 Japanese players owning world records will demonstrate their skills on Battle Garegga, DoDonPachi Saidaioujou and Mushihimesama Futari. They are Kamui, Clover-TAC and NAK. This event is part of the "Wasshoi in Europe" project from SuperplayLive and 3 Hit Combo. The intend is to build bridges between the Japanese and Western shmup communities. There will also be screening of 100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience and Le Tournoi des Légendes documentaries as well as concerts of 2080, Dataglitch, Flying Penguins, Sabrepulse, Speed Running the Apocalypse and Ultrasyd. Many other activities such as blind tests and conferences will be organized. In short, no way to get bored at such an event! See you at the INSA's Halle Francis Querné on April 24, 25 and 26 for the 9thStunfest! You can order your ticket and register for tournaments via the online shop.

Dragon Collection: The Ambition of the Pepper Gang (Shishitou dan no Yabou) is a dragon fighting game from Konami using collectible cards that was released in Japan yesterday. This is an adaptation of the mobile phone game that already has over 7 million players. Both versions are compatible: players can unlock items for the arcade version from their mobile phones. In addition, they can raise monsters in the arcade version to compete against other players or the CPU. At the end of a game, they can print a card with the monsters they have raised and use it later. By scanning the QR code with a smartphone, players can use the monsters from the arcade version for their smartphone. And conversely, if they are registered on Konami e-AMUSEMENT, they can use their phone monsters in the arcade version. Dragon Collection is also available in 5 different manga published in Japanese magazines. Dragon Collection mobile phone version is also available in English, the arcade version could therefore may arrive in Europe...

Annual event since 2003, the arcade tournament Tougeki is suspended this year. This is the executive committee that announced it on the event official website in a message both Japanese and English. According to the message, the suspension of Tougeki (as well as its qualifications) is due to difficult circumstances and a tumultuous entry in the 2010s, especially last year edition where home consoles tournaments were introduced, which was rather badly experienced by arcade players. Other events will still be held and the committee prepares a reborn of the Tougeki scene to fulfill the needs of fans. Let's hope that this break will be short and that the Tougeki will return in 2014!

Arc System Works's Tottemo E Mahjong is the first Mahjong game out via Taito's NESiCAxLive. It will be available tomorrow. It is an adaptation of the PS Vita downloadable version released in September 2012. In addition to the 4 characters from the PS Vita version (Saki Nakano, Mashiro Asagiri, Hazuki Saionji and Shizu Tsubakino), a new student will be available in Tottemo E Mahjong. This is Aisaka Akira, a young 18 year-old girl who is the president of the student council. The player will have to overcome many different victory conditions to unlock illustrations (sometimes naughty) of the heroines. Other news about the NESiCAxLive: BlazBlue Chronophantasma Ver 1.2 will also be released tomorrow. Two new game modes will be added. "Unlimited Mars" mode: the player compete in 10 stages, opponents are greatly enhanced than usual. Player's results are recorded in the Player's Guild. And "Survival" mode: the player continues to play the game until the time limit expires. The difficulty increases after each battle. A national ranking will be available.

Version 1.43 of Square Enix's Gunslinger Stratos is released today. Bug fixes and weapons adjustments have been made. But the main new feature is the appearance of a new character: Ryusha-Lyudmila N Ignatova-, a 18 year-old russian genius in charge of counter-terrorism. Her real name is Lyudmila Nikoraevuna-Igunatowa. She has the particularity of having cyborg prothesis instead of legs and she's the only character who uses area of effect weapons. As for the other game characters, Square Enix has called a well known illustrator for Ryusha charadesign: Shirow Miwa (Dogs manga series author). This game could be released outside Japan.